Sie gehören wohl zu den mit am meisten Spannung erwarteten Titeln für die virtuelle Realität und könnten einen Schub für VR auslösen. Bethesda nennt im Rahmen der Gamescom 2017 in Köln nun die genauen Erscheinungsdaten von The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, Doom VFR und Fallout 4 VR. Noch in diesem Jahr werden Spieler die virtuellen Räume der AAA-Titel betreten und erforschen können.
Bethesda nennt Erscheinungstermine seiner AAA-Spiele
Als erstes ist der Rollenspiel-Klassiker The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR an der Reihe, zumindest für PlayStation VR (PSVR): Am 17. November soll der Titel für die Sony-Konsole verfügbar sein. Wie gehabt wird der Release der Version für die HTC Vive erst nächstes Jahr stattfinden, hier nennt der Publisher noch kein genaueres Datum. Gleichzeitig bedient Bethesda hingegen die HTC Vive und PSVR mit Doom VFR, das der Publisher am 1. Dezember herausbringen will. Zum Schluss folgt der größte Titel, Fallout 4 VR. Der Erscheinungstermin liegt auf dem 12. Dezember, hier kommen zunächst lediglich HTC-Vive-Besitzer in den Genuss.
Etwas Verwirrung verursachte ein Tweet, in dem HTC mitteilte, dass Fallout 4 VR exklusiv für die Vive erscheint. Später korrigierte der Hersteller die Angabe und bestätigte lediglich erneut den Termin. Vorerst sollen im Gegensatz zu Skyrim VR keine DLCs bei Fallout 4 VR dabei sein. Diese könnten aber später kommen, wobei es unklar bleibt, ob sie kostenpflichtig sein werden oder nicht. Wie erwartet nennt Bethesda für alle drei Titel keinen Termin für die Oculus Rift. Als Hintergrund für die Verweigerung gelten die Prozesse zwischen ZeniMax Media und Oculus. ZeniMax ist die Muttergesellschaft von Bethesda.
Today Bethesda finally announced the official release dates for all three of its upcoming VR titles. You’ll be able to enjoy them all before the year’s over. Going into the year we knew about Fallout 4 VR already after playing it at E3 2016, but this year they announced both DOOM VFR and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR for the very first time.
Here’s when you can play each of Bethesda’s upcoming VR games:
Skyrim VR: November 17th for PSVR (No mention of Rift, Vive release presumably next year)
DOOM VFR: December 1st for PSVR and HTC Vive (No mention of Rift)
Fallout 4 VR: December 12th for HTC Vive (No mention of Rift, PSVR release presumably next year — although HTC is claiming it’s an exclusive, refer to the Update at the end of this story.)
You’ll notice that none of the games have Rift dates and that’s likely due to the ongoing legal issues between Bethesda parent company ZeniMax and Facebook-owned Oculus VR. When we talked to a Bethesda spokesperson at E3 about Rift support for any of the three titles they simply explained that they wanted to see their games on as many platforms as possible. My gut tells me this will be in the form of potential Rift support on Steam VR but not a release on Oculus Home. If it works on Vive then there’s really no reason it can’t launch on a Rift too. Even Google Earth VR had a workaround when the Rift was initially blocked. The reality of how this plays out remains to be seen for a few more months, however.
For our direct hands-on impressions of each game you can read more about what we thought of the latest Fallout 4 VR demo here, the Skyrim VR demo here, and the DOOM VFR demo both here and here. Let us know what you think of the games and how they’re shaping up down in the comments below!
Update: A tweet from the official HTC Vive Twitter account mentions Fallout 4 VR is coming “exclusively” to the HTC Vive:
Bethesda Softworks showcased three virtual reality (VR) videogames at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles this year. VRFocus has already covered Doom VFR, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR andFallout 4 VR with previews during E3, but now it’s Nina’s turn to go over her impressions.
So in this edition of VRTV Nina gets into how The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR plays and answers the questions everybody is asking: Is it worth getting for PlayStation VR? Does it add to the expereince? And most importantly is it worth purchasing a videogame you might well have yet again? Nina goes into the weapons, movement and how realistic The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is – including how even the easiest enemies can give you a fright when you’re actually in Skyrim.
You can find the video below, and if you missed the last VRTV in which Nina got to grips with Fallout 4 VR, you can catch up here.
Since its release in 2011, players have been wanting more and more reasons to jump back into the world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and finally, at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2017 during Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) press conference we finally got the official unveiling of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR. The PlayStation VR exclusive version of the beloved RPG is due for release in 2017.
Skyrim VR is a pretty exciting announcement for PlayStation VR owners – the title will be designed for use with the PS Move controllers, adding an extra level of depth and immersion as players swing swords, shoot arrows and fire magic in the most immersive way to play Skyrim yet.
We played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR at E3 2017, and we were very impressed, saying; “It’s rare that a VR experience at a huge event such as E3 can separate you from the outside world, but The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR achieved this with ease. Any misgivings about the potential of adapting such a huge world to VR – including that of the dreaded simulation sickness – have been washed away with even just a few minutes of gameplay.”
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR will also include all of the previously released DLC for Skyrim, so fans will have plenty to dip their toes into, even if mods might not be available in the future.
To see more of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, make sure to watch the official trailer below where you can see the tweaked VR controls in action.
For the latest of Bethesda VR and PlayStation VR, keep reading VRFocus.
Bethesda recently announced that Fallout 4 (2015) is coming to HTC Vive this October, and Skyrim (2011) is soon to follow sometime in late 2017 on PlayStation VR. Amidst talk of platform exclusivity, the company took to twitter to quell some fears in the community, tweeting out yesterday that they “plan on supporting as many platforms as [they] can.”
While Bethesda’s Doom VFR is coming to PSVR and HTC Vive straight away, the company hasn’t spoken in specific terms exactly when either Skyrim VR or Fallout 4 VR will make it across the aisle to other VR platforms (read: timed exclusivity). On top of that, the company has made no official mention of Oculus Rift support for any of their upcoming VR titles. Consider the following tweet though:
It’s been fun bringing our style of games to VR. We plan on supporting as many platforms as we can. #E32017pic.twitter.com/xA5kNgV9hR
— BethesdaGameStudios (@BethesdaStudios) June 13, 2017
Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax was engaged in a legal battle with Oculus/Facebook earlier this year, and to say there’s bad blood between the two companies is a bit of an understatement when ZeniMax was awarded $500M in damages after bringing a lawsuit for $4B surrounding exactly who owned the intellectual property that was vital in creating the Oculus Rift.
Despite these legal troubles, Bethesda’s plan to support “as many platforms as [they] can” sounds like good news for Rift owners, considering it would take very little to enable Rift/Touch support after ensuring the initial pull for HTC Vive via Steam. After all, SteamVR supports HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and OSVR natively.
It’s entirely possible that Bethesda decides to enable a hardware lock specific to the HTC Vive, necessitating a “Rift hack” like the one used to skate around the headset check inn Google Earth VRbefore official Rift support was available. They are however a pragmatic company, one that likely won’t throw away the opportunity to earn the full price of $59.99 for either VR versions of Skyrim or Fallout 4.
The question remains: is Bethesda going to openly snub Facebook (and Rift owners by proxy) by locking them out of their VR games? The answer may be less dramatic than you think. Bethesda may not openly list Rift support, but unofficially allow it access without announcing it to the world. A win-win (sort of) for Rift owners and Bethesda.
Only time will tell, but the chances of stalking The Wasteland or battling a 9-foot, club-totting giant on your choice of VR hardware are good, because whatever happens, there’s always likelihood of a day-1 hack should ZeniMax take the grudge to its logical extreme.
Even though it was included as one of our predictions for E3 2017, I never actually thought I’d get to sit there at a press conference and watch the world reveal for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR. It’s really happening.
Even though the game originally came out back in 2011 it still holds up incredibly well as one of the absolute best and most popular roleplaying games of all-time. The prospect of being able to explore the northern mountains and battling against the awoken dragons sounded too good to be something Bethesda would actually do, but here we are.
Luckily at E3 2017 this week we were able to go hands-on with the game and step inside the boots of the Dovahkin for the very first time. As of now it’s only confirmed for the PlayStation VR (PSVR) headset, but we have a feeling that it will come to Rift and/or Vive eventually. Interestingly, Fallout 4 VR is currently only slated for the HTC Vive.
In the announcement trailer from Sony’s E3 2017 press conference (embedded above) you can clearly see what looks like smooth movement around the environment, but in my demo it was teleportation movement only using the PS Move controllers. When we checked the PlayStation Store listing for Skyrim VR, we noticed that both PS Move and the DualShock 4 were listed as controller options.
Since my demo was Move with teleportation only my guess is that when you’re using the DualShock 4 it has smooth movement only since the Move controllers don’t have an analog stick.
My demo took place at Bleak Falls Barrow, one of the very first dungeons you visit in the game. Since it was a demo there were a few changes made to streamline it all. I only had a sword, now, and a few spells for example, but the actual game will of course have the entire plethora of items and abilities from the full game.
I played using two PS Move controllers so teleportation and snap turning was my only movement option. The representative that showed me the demo explained that with the DualShock 4 they have smooth movement and are trying to figure out a way to enable that for Move as well.
I could bring up my favorifes ist to switch spells and items quickly so my default was usually a steel sword and flame spell with icenaoikes and lightning available if I needed it. Shooting the bow was accomplished by mimicking nocking and loosing an arrow just like most other VR games you have probably played.
Combat felt good, but the lack of smooth movement made it tough to subtly maneuver around enemies. The teleportation mechanic was more like a sprint movement than blinking so it wasn’t totally immersion breaking. The representative also told me they are trying to find a way to enable voice commands for shouts, something I requested almost immediately.
Overall the demo was impressive and definitely felt like Skyrim. The resolution was quite low and clearly had to be downgraded to run on the PSVR without issues, but the framerate was as smooth as butter the entire time.
The fact that a game like this, of this size and quality, exists in VR at all is remarkable. Just the mere thought of having all three major expansions included and the entire base game, all running in VR, is incredible.
I’ve invested hundreds of hours into Skyrim and look forward to returning to the land of Tamriel with a brand new perspective and sense of presence.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is scheduled to release for PSVR later this holiday season in 2017. An eventual release on other VR platforms is expected.
For more details on Skyrim VR, Doom VFR, and Fallout 4 VR, make sure to stay with UploadVR and check our E3 news hub for all of the latest VR and AR announcements.
Bethesda had plenty of big VR projects to showcase at E3 2017 this week, but there’s been a little confusion as to when you’ll get to play what on which platforms. If you have a high-end headset, though, there’s a good chance you’ll get to play everything at some point in the future.
Following a few days of fans asking what platforms Bethesda’s VR games would be available on, the company issued a statement on Twitter, noting that it plans “on supporting as muany platforms as week can.”
Images of Fallout 4 and Skyrim VR accompanied the tweet.
It’s been fun bringing our style of games to VR. We plan on supporting as many platforms as we can. #E32017pic.twitter.com/xA5kNgV9hR
— BethesdaGameStudios (@BethesdaStudios) June 13, 2017
Currently, Fallout 4 is set to release on HTC Vive this October, and Skyrim VR will hit PlayStation VR (PSVR) in November. From the sounds of it, both games could head elsewhere after this initial release. We wouldn’t be surprised to see a Vive version of Skyrim follow soon after the PSVR release, for example. It’s a little trickier with Fallout 4, though, as there’s still the question of if the game will run on the less powerful PS4 hardware.
All that said, we still don’t have a clear idea on the company’s plans for that other major VR hardware, the Oculus Rift. Bethesda’s relationship with the company appears somewhat estranged given that owner ZeniMax Media recently took Oculus to court over an alleged theft of technology. Oculus is currently trying to appeal the $500 million fine it was ordered to pay ZeniMax. It’s not hard to understand why there might be some hold up bring Fallout, Skyrim, and the PSVR and Vive-bound Doom VFR to Rift, then.
We’re visiting Bethesda at E3 today, so expect impressions on these titles soon.
Skyrim is officially coming to PlayStation VR, and E3 attendees are currently getting their first look at the game. One of them was nice enough to record it, too.
MasterGamingVR recently posted six minutes of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR footage from the show floor. The player is using two PlayStation Move controllers to work his way through the game, which has apparently been ported in its entirety over to the headset. We get a look at melee combat as well as magic and archery and a range of weapons. It looks like teleportation locomotion is used with incremental turning.
The question is what other locomotion methods will make it into the game? We’re going hands-on with the game soon, so we’ll get back to you with the answer.
Intel also presented their partnership with Linkin Park, who are releasing a VR experience with the help of AR/VR production studio Spatialand. Linkin Park VR Destination will feature music, contests, merchandise, and the ability to unlock secret fan experiences and events created by the band.
Ubisoft Reveals New VR Thriller Transference:
Photo courtesy Ubisoft
The VR highlight of Ubisoft’s E3 presentation was Transference, a psychological thriller developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Elijah Wood’s content studio SpectreVision. Due to launch in Spring 2018, the experience claims to be part game, part movie, and a ‘true collaboration between Hollywood and gaming’, promising a multi-branching narrative and ‘unparalleled presence’.
Ubisoft Unveils Multiplayer VR Shooter Space Junkies:
image courtesy Ubisoft
While it didn’t make an appearance at Ubisoft’s main presentation, a new VR arcade shooter called Space Junkies was also announced yesterday, described as a “jetpack-fueled arcade shooter developed exclusively for virtual reality gaming”. Shootouts take place in microgravity ‘Orbital Arenas’ with 1v1 or 2v2 combat. The game launches for Rift (Touch required) and Vive in spring 2018.
Alongside the Skyrim VR reveal, Sony’s E3 presentation featured a significant ‘PlayStation VR Game’ section, where they announced 5 brand new VR games, each with a trailer. Star Child from Playful Corp, The Inpatient and Bravo Team from Supermassive Games, Final Fantasy: Monsters of the Deep from Square Enix, and Moss from Polyarc.
One of the bigger announcements from Sony’s E3 briefing last night was the announcement of Skyrim VR only for PlayStation VR. Well, it seems that exclusivity may just be a timed arrangement according to some sources and we will in fact see an HTC Vive / Steam VR release at some point.
There are many games out there that people would love to come to VR (or perhaps for VR to come to them). Skyrim however is right up there on the most wanted list. So, learning that Bethesda was working on an official virtual reality release at yesterday’s Sony E3 briefing was likely music to many VR enthusiast’s ears. What wasn’t so welcome was the news that Skyrim VR would be exclusive to PlayStation VR.
Not only was it disappointing for owners of PC VR systems like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, it didn’t seem to make a lot of sense given the reveal of two other major VR reveals from the group – namely Doom VFR and Fallout 4 VR – the previous day.
It’s now being reported that, according to Sony sources at E3, the PlayStation VR version of Skyrim VR is merely a timed exclusive and that – as with Doom and Fallout – there will be a Steam VR version to be released at a later date. How long that timed exclusivity will remain in place is unclear, but this strategy makes a lot more sense, more inline with expectations. This according to reporting from Gamerant and from apparent conversations had by Jeff Canata on the DLC gaming podcast (skip to approx. 1hr 3m) with a Sony rep at E3. Canata said “I don’t know if I’m able to say this but I’m gonna, they [Sony] said it’s a timed exclusive. So it is going to be exclusive to PlayStation VR for a while before it comes to Oculus and Vive,” likely meaning a SteamVR release rather than a specific Oculus Store version as well, just like its Fallout VR and Doom VFR stablemates.
We’ve reached out to Sony for confirmation of this information, we’ll update this article once we receive a response either way.
